Saturday, May 1, 2010

A Very Good Reason for rules of Lashon Hara…

Something that I find particularly annoying is the stupidity of others. I’ve noticed that I will be talking to a friend or acquaintance of mine and I will say something like, “I bet….” blah blah blah blah…. Or, “I wonder….” Some people, usually less intelligent types, will turn around and ask, “how do you know that?” Then I have to tell them, “I didn’t say that. I said, ‘I *bet*.’” Now, here’s the thing, if you’re not really listening to your friend, then don’t freaking listen. Don’t half listen and then keep half listening over and over again as a person starts to raise their voice at you.

Really this hasn’t happened too much to me, as I don’t feel like I can tell anyone anything because people are stupid and I don’t really have anyone that I would call a true blue friend. Also, I don’t try to actually have conversations with people in public anymore. I thought it was bad when I lived in Buffalo. Here in NYC, you say something to the person next to you on the subway or whatever and usually you are met with a blank stare as you realize, “I don’t think she speaks English. I should know better by now. I’ve lived here since June 8, 2004.”

**note that most of this is from my memories. I don't like to make "I bet" and "I wonder" statements as I'm quite afraid they will turn into LH,